The “French and Indian” Wars (1756-1763)

Between 1744 and 1748, France and England were engaged in another global war, known in North America as King George’s War. In 1747, Franklin published a widely read article entitled “Plain Truth”, in which he praised the warlike courage and native heroism of the “Britons” and argued for the organization of all North American colonial militias into a united force under British command that would be strong enough to defeat the French and their Native American allies. The war ended before these plans could be realized.By 1754, however, only six years after the conclusion of King George’s War, it was clear that another war between France and England was imminent. The same fears regarding collective defense resurfaced among the colonists, and the threat of concentrated French and Indian attacks on settlements appeared even more ominous.These circumstances laid the groundwork for the growing conflict between the British North American colonies and the royal authorities in London, ultimately culminating in the American Revolution. The rejection of Franklin’s Albany Plan (1755), which proposed implementing ideas outlined in “Plain Truth”, marked the beginning of a political contest between colonial legislatures and the Crown. Although many recognized the merits of Franklin’s plan, the royal authorities viewed it as presumptuous, and Tories openly reviled such colonial initiatives. Only the king was seen as having the authority to ratify so ambitious a proposal.King George II’s unilateral decision to send professional British troops instead of relying on colonial militias sparked a chain of events that increased hostility between the British military and the colonial population. Franklin notes that a series of severe British military defeats against the French undermined colonists’ confidence in their protectors. For the first time, many Americans began to perceive the British army less as an ally and more as an occupying force.Persistent expressions of British contempt, combined with wounded American pride, planted the seeds of a distinct American cultural and political identity. At this stage, however, the sense of a conscious “American” linguistic identity had not yet emerged. This is a central concern of Part I of this book. Franklin, despite the challenges, sought to navigate a middle course, maintaining loyalty to the British Empire and whig principles while advocating for the colonies’ collective interests and aspiring political recognition.